Archive for the ‘Steinhoff Maties Cricket’ Category

On Wednesday the Maties cycling team won the USSA title for a third consecutive year after total domination on the road.

This follows the success of the Steinhoff Maties rugby team that finally won the USSA title with its fourth final. The tournament took place in Johannesburg.

In Port Elizabeth the Maties men and women’s team won the road competition. Gert Heyns and Frances du Toit were the individual winners. Riders from Maties won every stage. Max Sullivan won the green jersey as best sprinter en Heyns the polka-dot jersey for best climber.

The Maties rugby team beat Pukke 19-13 in the final played at the Wits stadium. Braam Venter and his team started the week with a victory over CUT (84-7) and easily dispatched Shimlas (50-7) in the semi-final.

It was a thriller of a final against the team from Potchefstroom that eliminated the home university Wits in the semi-finals.

“I am very pleased and relieved that we could win the final. We have come close to winning other for the last few years. To win the title means a lot to us. We can now build on this for the rest of the WP league and what we’ve learned here we can even use in next year’s Varsity Cup tournament,” said Venter.

Maties is now the USSA champions for both 15man and Sevens rugby. Venter was also the captain of the sevens team that won the last USSA tournament for sevens. The USSA Sevens Rugby Tournament is in September this year.

The rugby team is the only team to win a title last week. The Maties cycling team is currently in Port Elizabeth where the team is the two-time defending champion.

The Maties gymnastics team won the team competition and ended second overall to Pukke. The badminton and tennis teams were both third.

20170201 VARSITY CRICKET in Potchefstroom on Senwes Park where maties plays UJ.Grant Roelofsen looses his wicket.Grant is from UJ.photo Mario van de Wall/SASPA

The character shown by his players at times when their backs were against the wall – that was what most impressed Steinhoff Maties Cricket coach Andrew Wylie at the recent Varsity Cricket tournament held in Potchefstroom.

The Maties were top of the log after the round-robin stage, but lost in the semi-final against the University of Pretoria. Home-team Pukke won the title and Maties ended third in the competition.

“The standard of play was very good. All the teams were very competitive and there were no games where one team trounced the other. The tournament has definitely grown in stature,” said Wylie.

“A number of things stood out for me. Firstly, the way in which each player played his individualrole to the benefit of the team. The character they showed in the moments when we had our backs against the wall, is not something you can teach players. I can’t take credit for that. It says something about the team. Their body language in both the hard and the good timeswasimpressive too.”

A number of players competed in their first Varsity Cricket tournament. One of them was the captain, Gerhard Erasmus.

“The youngsters learned and grew a lot. Our captain also grew in stature and in his role. His confidenceincreased with each match and the players clearly accepted his leadership,” added Wylie.

“I also have to mention the intensity with which the players trained and played – in the build-up to the competition and at the tournament. It was amazing to see.”

Maties bowler Mihlali May (photo) was included in the USSA team that will compete in the Futures Cup later this year. Fenito Mehl was selected as non-travelling reserve.

20170203 VARSITY CRICKET in Potchefstroom on SenWes Park,where Pukke plays MatiesGerhard Erasmus was Player of the Match and Best Batsmanphoto Mario van de Wall/SASPA

Steinhoff Maties Cricket player Kyle Simmonds has been invited to join the Cricket South Africa National Academy.

The programme starts on 22 May and will run until the end of July. Thereafter the SA Emerging Men’s squad will be named for the tour of Sri Lanka in August.

According to the second year Matie it was a goal to one day join the National Academy. “After my two years at the Dolphins Academy (2013-2014) I did have plans to hopefully attend the National Academy but I did not expect an invitation at the beginning of the 2016/2017 cricket season, but I was fortunate to have a good start to the season and am very grateful for being selected. A few of my teammates at Boland have been through the Academy so it’s been good to hear what is to be expected and I’m looking forward to the challenge ahead.”

For Simmonds a big motivation is the fact that many players who joined the National Academy in previous years have moved on to Franchise cricket. “This is something that will to drive me to grow as a cricketer while in Pretoria. As far as my career I do not want to look too far ahead but just focus on any opportunity that comes to me starting with the second half of the Amateur season with Boland, then the National Academy and after that I’ll just take it one game at a time.”

The National Academy programme is aimed at looking at the holistic development of a player, so it looks at all aspects and not just cricket related skill and tactical awareness, but also at what other support a player needs in order to get to a level where he or she can perform at professional and international standards. This includes the performance lifestyle of a player, what is his social background, what is his economic background and how does that affect a player’s ability to perform at the top level.

Simmonds will use his time at the Academy wisely. “Something that I have learnt very quickly is that as a cricketer you can’t just rely on one aspect of cricket like bowling for example, so at the Academy my main focus will be bowling but I am going to work hard on the three other important aspects being batting, fielding and fitness. I think if you’re competing with the top players in all four categories you make it very hard for selectors to leave you out of any team and that will be something that I’m hoping to work very hard on at the National Academy.”

Those before him left big shoes to fill, but the new Steinhoff Maties Cricket captain wants more than just to follow in their footsteps; Gerhard Erasmus is determined to leave his own legacy.

Erasmus has been appointed as Maties captain for the new season. The past few seasons Dewald Botha and Emile Kriek were the leaders in the team. “Emile and Dewald were not only good leaders. They were also brilliant players and great people. They were the epitome of good students. They worked hard, trained hard and studied hard,” said Erasmus.

For Erasmus it is important that the so-called new generation of Maties establish their own culture. “For sure we want to build on the traditions that have been established over the years, but we are a young squad and it will be important to establish our own culture. It is our first challenge. ”

Erasmus is a second-year LLB student and played for Maties since his first year. “To be a player-student at Maties is wonderful. What Maties offer Maties ensures that you want to be here.”

Erasmus is passionate about captaincy. “It is a great honour and privilege to be Maties’ captain. Leadership comes naturally to me. Captaincy is a pleasant responsibility. I play better when I captain a team … It is where I belong. ”

Cricket is part of Maties Sport’s High Performance programme and according to Erasmus this makes a huge difference. “It is essential to have an HP programme. Maties’ HP programme is all including and especially Grant van Velden’s role as conditioning coach is invaluable.”

Five Maties Cricket players will represent Boland in the second edition of the Africa Cup T20 competition this weekend.

The competition is being played over four consecutive weekends in September and Keegan Petersen (captain), Kyle Simmonds, Justin Dill, Soyisile Pono and Niel Botha will be in action this weekend at Boland Park in Paarl.

Hosts Boland are joined by KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and Eastern Province, with the general consensus being that this is the toughest group of the lot in the 2016 competition, according to Supersport. The finals weekend of the competition is scheduled to take place from 30 September to 1 October.

Two other Maties were also involved in the competition: Gerhard Erasmus represented Namibia and Jeremy Ives is representing Zimbabwe.

New Maties Cricket assistant coach Ryan Bailey wished the players well and said this competition is a wonderful opportunity for young players to showcase their talent.

“We pride ourselves that we run the Maties Club as a franchise – we run it as professionally as we can and as the students’ schedules allow. We want to produce players for Boland and then it is Boland’s job to prepare them for the Cobras and the Cobras’s job to prepare them for the Proteas.”

After coming close a few times, Steinhoff Maties cricketer Ricardo Vasconcelos will finally get the opportunity to represent his country at U/19 level.

Vasconcelos, a former learner of St Stithians College in Johannesburg, is a first-year student at Stellenbosch University and will play for the South African U/19 team against Sri Lanka.

“I did not expect to be selected but it was most certainly a goal that I’ve been working towards for a while now. I’ve been in the 25-man squad for four tours before this one so it’s really great to finally be selected and get the opportunity to represent my country.”

Vasconcelos studies BComm Management Sciences and he admits that finding time for both his studies and his sport is a challenge.

“Finding the balance between playing cricket and studying has been very tough for me personally and I’m still trying to figure out the best way to do this.”

As a first-year Vasconcelos could play a big role in the future of Maties Cricket, especially when one takes into consideration that various senior players had moved on at the end of the previous season.

He enjoys playing for Maties and says it is like nothing he’s ever experienced before.

“Since the first day of training I’ve always felt welcome and fully supported by all the players as well as all the coaches and that’s why I’ve enjoyed it so much so far.”

Maties Cricket coach Andrew Wylie added: “Ricardo has obviously shown lots of potential and has a very good reputation. He is technically well organised and can certainly become a key performer for us over the next few years. He is mature enough to adapt his game to different conditions and certainly appears very driven to do well in the sport. It will be crucial that he learns early to balance his academics and cricketing responsibilities.”

The 2016 National Club Championships proved to be the end of an era and the start of the next for the Steinhoff Maties Cricket team.

Not only did Maties had to say goodbye to legends Dewald Human and Emile Kriek, but the team also saw glimpses of what the future might hold with the performances of first year bowlers Kyle Simmonds and Brandon Glover.

“The Club Champs proved to be a great experience for the team and really motivated the players to raise their intensity levels and play a high standard of cricket. Winning three out of five matches against quality opposition was a satisfactory trip,” said coach Andrew Wylie.

“Our objective of going one step further than last year’s final was not to be. Losing to Pukke in the third match proved crucial and ultimately cost us a chance at playing in the final.” Pukke with 10 first class cricketers beat Maties by four wickets in a tightly contested match and would eventually go on to be crowned champions as they beat Tukkies comfortably by eight wickets in the final.

But it was the performances of the next generation that gave Wylie reason to smile. “The younger players that included 4 first year’s performed brilliantly and will develop quickly after such a tough tournament. Batting conditions early on proved very difficult and this took some adapting from the usual slow low Boland wickets we are accustomed to.”

With regards to Botha and Kriek it is obvious that even though they played their last matches for Maties, their legacy will remain. “Dewald has been the key to our success the past few years. He is extremely competitive and really has an infectious confidence that the players respond brilliantly too. He is a gifted player and has the ability to win games for his side from difficult positions. His all-round ability and tactical awareness will be missed. Emile is an incredibly talented player who has a natural feel for the game. As a leader he leads from the front with an uncompromising attitude in tight situations. He has been a stalwart for many years at the club and a player the youngsters really look up to and respect. I have yet to see anyone at tertiary level with his ability in the field and catching prowess.”

After more than 200 game and six years as part of the Steinhoff Maties cricket team Dewald Botha at the recent National Club Championships played his last game for Maties.

The last few seasons Botha was not only one of the team’s key players, but he also led by example as club captain. He was also a regular member of the Boland team.

Among the highlights in his time at Maties include the 2012 and 2015 National Club Champs finals. “There was also the semi-final at the 2015 Varsity Sports cricket tournament we won in dramatic fashion in order to play in the final.”

Botha says he will always remember the atmosphere on and off the field at Maties. “The competitive – but enjoyable – way in which Maties play and the lifelong friendships I will always cherish.”

Botha said he had learned two great lessons in his time at Maties: “The game is never over until that last ball is bowled or until you get that last wicket or run. And then … cricket is much more enjoyable when you play for the team and not for yourself.”

His coach last few years at Maties, Andrew Wylie said that Botha was a key to his team’s success over the past few years. “He is extremely competitive and really has an infectious confidence that the players respond brilliantly too. He is a gifted player and has the ability to win games for his side from difficult positions. His all round ability and tactical awareness will be missed.”

In his last game ever recorded for Maties Botha 65 runs. It was at the National Club Champs.

Botha’s message to the next generation of Maties cricket players is to enjoy every moment at the club. “Make the most of every moment at Maties, because it will probably be the most enjoyable cricket you’ll ever play.”